I spend a lot of time reading blogs every day.  My feed reader says I subscribe to 40 feeds (seems a bit low, seems like I have a lot more), but I'd say I pay real close attention to about 5 of them.  Those 5 keep me checking my reader multiple times a day, just to see if I have any new gems from them.  I find myself checking the rest of the feeds only in a cursory style, looking only at the titles and if they don't pop out at me, I don't bother reading it.  The 5 super stars however get my full attention as soon as new content comes around. 

Nobody ever pays attention to those blogrolls, so here's my attempt at recognizing my favorite bloggers out there.  They each have a different reason for grabbing my attention, but I don't have a top favorite.  The first two are tech superstar bloggers that most people in the .NET community are familiar with:

 1. Scott Hanselman
Almost no introduction needed here, but just in case you've been living under a rock, Scott is a .NET wizard.  I think of him as part technical brain wizard and part motivational speaker (blogger).  I read his blog to find out new ways to become a better developer, code for fun, learn the inside scoop on new technologies whether they be from Microsoft or other sources and generally feel inspired to go and create something myself.  Also check out Hanselminutes.com, a regular podcast he puts on that piggybacks on topics from his blog.  He blogs in spurts, so while not a new post every day, when he does write new content, it's usually 3-4 articles at a time.  Love it.

 2. Coding Horror
Another blog that needs no intro.  I love this blog put together by Jeff Atwood for the controversy and strong opinions.  I like this blog for 2 main reasons:  Jeff tells it as he sees it and 2) Jeff can take a seemingly mundane, boring topic like computer fonts and turn it around into a powerful discussion with 100+ commenters clammoring to get their opinion out there.  Jeff encourages all developers to demand certain things like multiple monitors, powerful machines and tools... all part of the "Programmer's Bill of Rights."  Also, in true better than Tom's Hardware fashion comes his series on building a PC parts 1-4.

 The remaining 3 are a little less known in the blogosphere but get equally as much attention from me and my feed reader:

3. MicroISV on a Shoestring - Patrick Mckenzie
OK, I said I didn't have a favorite, but I think I look for updates from Patrick first.  He's documented his entire experience running a uISV (usually a 1 person software company) from initial conception to present day.  He's taken a topic I never thought could have succeeded, a piece of software that prints Bingo cards. 

For a very long time now, I've dreamed of starting my own uISV but each time I start to get serious and brainstorm for a few ideas... I fall flat.  I always find a reason not to run with it.   Patrick's blog is what keeps me motivated and one day I will get serious and follow in his footsteps.  Without his blog, if you told me you could earn some decent cash (not ready to quit your job cash but nonetheless, cash) by writing a piece of software (that runs on the desktop) and just prints bingo cards, I probably would have nodded politely to your face and said ok, and then walked away shaking my head in disbelief.  This blog is truly an inspiration.  Check it out for advice on getting starting, finding a payment processor, SEO for your product and how to give great customer service.

4. .NET Slave - Mads Kristensen
Mads is clearly a clever guy with a knack for finding subtle things in .NET I've glossed over many times and incorporating them into software.  He and his team has written BlogEngine.NET, the open source software powering this particular blog and many others.  He realized that the other blogging platforms available for .NET were not quite up to par so he broke away and came up with Blogengine.NET.  I've written about it in the past here.  I tune into Mad's blog regularly because he posts interesting tidbits like how to make your application extensible for future changes, how certain projects don't yet exist in .NET and how he is going about solving technology problems.  Generally an interesting blog to follow.

5. Coding in Paradise - Brad Neuberg
This is a recent entry into the top 5 for me, but Brad's latest articles on pushing Internet techologies to their limits and challenging common Internet ideas have struck a cord with me.  I found his blog after following some code comments in a Javascript Library of his for browser history my company uses.  I found his blog facinating and his most recent entry about having a research agenda and challenging yourself to make sure what you're working on is important really struck a cord with me.  When you see the list of goals, like coming up with an email solution that only sends you the emails that are important to you as impossible, just take a look at some of the stuff he's already done:

• dojo - a framework for taking web apps offline - predates Google gears
• Really Simple History - "An open source library making it easy for AJAX applications to incorporate bookmarking and back button support" - this is what we use @ my company.
• Ajax MAssive Storage System (AMASS) - "An open source library that allows AJAX applications to store a large amount of permanent and secure information in the browser"

These are the people that inspire me to go create, critique and have fun with technology.  I hope you have your favorites too.